The San Francisco 49ers have officially added another storied soccer club to their portfolio.
49ers Enterprises, the team’s venture arm, has completed its takeover of Scotland’s Rangers FC, acquiring a majority stake (51%) following months of negotiations. The 49ers, who already own English soccer club Leeds United, are part of a U.S. consortium that also includes health care tycoon Andrew Cavenagh.
Cavenagh, the founder and CEO of ParetoHealth, will lead the consortium as board chairman with additional support from the 49ers and other investors. He will work closely with 49ers Enterprises president Paraag Marathe, who will serve as vice chairman on the board. The club announced that Rangers CEO Patrick Stewart will remain on the board alongside John Halsted, George Taylor and Fraser Thornton.
The terms of the deal were not revealed, but new ownership has initially committed $26M to invest in the club’s playing squad. The deal is expected to be approved at a general meeting on June 23.
Rangers FC will now turn its attention to finding a new manager after firing Philippe Clement in February. The Glasgow club, which finished second in the Scottish Premiership last season, is one of the oldest clubs in Scotland and has won the Scottish League title a record 55 times. The resources and capital injections that the new ownership group is slated to provide could help the squad return to glory and better compete against its longtime crosstown foe Celtic, which has dominated the heated rivalry over the last decade.
“Our goal is to win trophies in Scotland and be able to compete at a high level in Europe, while laying a foundation of financial sustainability for the future,” Cavenagh and Marathe said in an open letter to club fans.
This the latest string of news for the 49ers, who celebrated Leeds’ promotion to English Premier League last month. The NFL club, which just rewarded its quarterback Brock Purdy with a major contract extension, also recently announced a minority stake sale to a trio of Bay Area families at a valuation higher than $8.5 billion. After pushing Leeds back to the top tier of English soccer and making the 49ers competitive again, the venture arm eyes the chance to make Rangers FC a bona fide winner again.
“We view it as three uncut diamonds,” Marathe, the chairman of Leeds, said earlier this month. “We’ve polished up the 49ers, and now on the path to doing it with Leeds, and there’s another opportunity there with Rangers.”